Why I Can't Get Enough of The Last Man on Earth

We have it good in the age of the high-capacity DVR. There's room for the shows you love, the shows you like, and the shows you like enough to watch them while you paint your nails. But (tell me if you feel the same) even in this golden age of scripted, it's not too often that a show comes along you just can't wait to get to every week, to the point that you smile like a goofball to see its new episode waiting for you in your recordings list. It happened with Empire this year on the drama side. And this spring, it happened again, with a far less likely candidate for my passion: The Last Man on Earth. I knew the series, which stars Will Forte as one of a handful of Americans who have survived a deadly plague, would be fun for at least one episode. Who doesn't want to know what a guy with the country to himself would do? (The answer: Steal the presidential seal from the Oval Office and dozens of Playboys from a grocery store.) But I knew that stuff would get played out quickly. Luckily, The Last Man on Earth has so

We have it good in the age of the high-capacity DVR. There's room for the shows you love, the shows you like, and the shows you like enough to watch them while you paint your nails. But (tell me if you feel the same) even in this golden age of scripted, it's not too often that a show comes along you just can't wait to get to every week, to the point that you smile like a goofball to see its new episode waiting for you in your recordings list. It happened with Empire this year on the drama side. And this spring, it happened again, with a far less likely candidate for my passion: The Last Man on Earth.

I knew the series, which stars Will Forte as one of a handful of Americans who have survived a deadly plague, would be fun for at least one episode. Who doesn't want to know what a guy with the country to himself would do? (The answer: Steal the presidential seal from the Oval Office and dozens of Playboys from a grocery store.) But I knew that stuff would get played out quickly. Luckily, The Last Man on Earth has so much more going for it. Such as:

It's blissfully straightforward. Don't get me wrong. I adore Veep's bureaucratic high jinks, New Girl's rounds of True American, and Workaholics' home wrestling shows gone wrong. But watching a show execute hilarity via uncomplicated stories of fixing a door, finding a cow, and… well, losing a cow is a pleasant, rare, and impressive experience.

Did I get a little wonky there? Let me go simple with the next one: Boris Kodjoe. Oh, hi, Boris Kodjoe! The only thing I don't like about you is your "special guest star" status. Never leave! Kodjoe plays "New Phil," a clever contractor who upends Phil's alpha male status. Which brings me to my next point:

The ensemble dynamic is always changing. Every episode or so, a new character enters the mix, having found the remainder of the human population in Tucson. This gives the show a reverse Survivor kind of vibe—and I'm fully aware that my years of loving reality TV have contributed to my fangirling over Last Man. Not only is each new character reveal thrilling, but also, it means the power structure in the cul de sac is always shifting.

Back to Boris for a second: He and Kristen Schaal are falling in love on the show. He's wearing a scarf she knit him here! If this pairing doesn't make your heart sing, you should see a cardiologist.

No surprise here: Two of the most talented women working in television right now are responsible for the show's charming writing. Emily Spivey created Up All Night. Liz Cackowski comes from Community. Like Forte, both women worked at SNL. It's nice to have girls well represented on-screen (that's Cleopatra Coleman and Mary Steenburgen above) and behind the scenes.

This all sounds great, but is Boris Kodjoe in the show? I can't stress this enough: Boris Kodjoe is in the show.